Gen 5 RU Playstyle Classification Thread

RU Co-Leader

Alright, its been a while, but i updated the OP with the majority of the entries posted! There were like 3 i wasn't 100% sure on, so i left them out for now. DittoCrow also changed misc roles to a niche mons section a few days ago for Pokemon that have a small niche but should only be used on certain teams, so things like Camerupt, Liepard, and Mothim have been placed there for the time being. Some of the links are still broken, but i'll fix them soon. Anyways, to keep discussion moving...

Bulky Offense/Balance

Physical Sweepers:

(Hone Claws)

Durant's high attack, hustle ability, and great speed stat mean that fighting against one can be really painful if you make the wrong move

Hustle boosts Durant's Attack by 1.5 in exchange for accuracy, making it even stronger than it already is and making up for its lowish BP STAB moves

Hone Claws patches up Durant's Accuracy issue and further boosts its Attack stat if it gets a chance to set one up

Outspeeds the majority of the unboosted tier, which is always nice for a physical sweeper

doesn't care about priority: resists Extremespeed, Quick Attack, Shadow Sneak, and Sucker Punch, and has enough physical bulk to take the rest of them pretty easily.

defensive teams have quite a bit of trouble with +1 Durant because of its sheer power and STABs, even things like Poliwrath take quite a bit from +1 Superpower

Out of boredom I compiled a list of Pokemon that have showed up the most on this list. I may have missed some.

Only including ones with 5 appearances or more excluding Manly Teams(Move your mouse to reveal the content)Only including ones with 5 appearances or more excluding Manly Teams (open)Only including ones with 5 appearances or more excluding Manly Teams (close)

This may be just me but I think there are too many Mesprits and Torterras in this chart - they are on there more than even Slowking and Druddigon (the best Pokemon in the tier), for instance, which I find strange, considering they far from as dominant, although I guess it goes off the # of submissions.

Balance
Pivots(Choice Scarf, probably other sets too but idk)

Immunity to Ground, Water resistance, and, most of all, Volt Switch make it an excellent pivot on any team, including Balance.

Its one of the only Pokemon that resists Water and still gets Volt Switch, and thanks to Leaf Storm it can also severely threaten Slowking, forcing it to leave most of the time.

Trick can really screw up some walls and give some other things an easier time. It also means that if a Pokemon stops its momentum after it Tricks away its scarf, they will be forced to eat a Leaf Storm (aka almost always get OHKOed by Leaf Storm because these things are Ground-types)

Done being a pivot? Rotom-C makes for a decent cleaner as well thanks to its decently powered Thunderbolt.

Its in general just very good, there isn't much more to say :/

Pivots (Pivot)

Regenerator, a good bulk, and a good typing that grants it lots of resistances gives it several opportunities to switch in an do its business.

Checks several dangerous offensive Pokemon such as Sceptile, Feraligatr

Spore is a very annoying move and it gets a lot of opportunities to set it up because it is very hard to directly eliminate from the match

Has Stun Spore if it wants to crippple other stuff after the initial Spore.

Sleep is extremely well prepared for in RU and its low special attack doesn't help against some Pokemon, although Clear Smog and the aforementioned Stun Spore helps.

Niche Roles(Niche Spinner)

Like Torkoal, it should not be your first choice for a spinner.

Its Ground typing means it is of the few switch-ins for CB Aggron's Head Smash in the tier, and it is immune to Volt Switch, making it a good partner for Flying-types in general. It can also deal with Rhydon and Aerodactyl moderately well.

It still can beat Spiritomb, which is the most common spinblocker in the tier.

Hard to OHKO with a physical attack with just max HP so it can usually pull off a spin against physical attackers in case of emergency.

Doesn't really fit into one type of team in my experience so it would fit here moreso than anywhere else.

EDIT: If we are going to put Mesprit on the list 15 times and even put stuff like Torkoal or Beheeyem out there Sandslash at least deserves a mention in misc. roles

I think the large number of Mesprits on the list mostly relates to the fact that it can do a fuckton of things in RU, simply because it has a great balance of stats and a massive movepool which means it can do a lot of things, hence the large number of entries. (Plus, Mesprit's updated analysis has more sets than any Pokemon viable in RU). On a side note, I would actually refrain from mentioning Sandslash at all because it really is not viable imo, but that may be just what I think.

EDIT: Eh, I guess Sandslash has a small niche as a last resort spinner, so okay then

Anyways, to make this post more useful, here's what I've got.

Balance/Bulky Offense:

Physical Sweepers:

(Swords Dance)

Although Durant and Scyther might look better, this thing is beastly and possibly better than both

High Speed, and amazing coverage, so it can handily sweep teams

Has useful Fighting and Grass resistances to use as setup opportunities

Can run Salac Berry+Swarm to be even more epic

Immune to Toxic and also absorbs Toxic Spikes

It's very manly

(Rock Polish)

It has usable bulk and nice resistances, so it can patch up its paltry Speed handily

Outspeeds a lot of things in the tier after a Rock Polish Boost

Amazing 124 Attack and a great coverage make it a force to be reckoned with

RU Co-Leader

Hariyama's great bulk, cool resistances, Thick Fat, and ability to phaze make it a solid wall in the RU metagame

144/60/60 defenses mean Hariyama can take pretty much any non super effective hit, letting it switch in to tank many threats

resistances to Dark, Bug, and Rock-type moves help Hariyama check threats such as Kabutops, Accelgor, and Absol pretty nicely

Thick Fat tacks on two extra resistances to Fire- and Ice-type moves, letting Hariyama take powerful and common attacks such as Blizzard from Glaceon, Flare Blitz from Entei and Emboar, and Fire Blast from Emboar well, further augmenting its walling capabilities

Ice-type resistance is especially important given how powerful hail teams are in the current metagame

good bulk and access to Sleep Talk also mean Hariyama makes a good sleep absorber that can help out against Pokemon such as Lilligant

Can phaze with Whirlwind and spread paralysis with force palm when needed, high base attack helps make up for Force Palm's low BP

recieves competition from other Pokemon such as Poliwrath

really wish it had Drain Punch

still, Hariyama is a pretty cool defensive Pokemon when its services are needed

May edit this with an addition later, but this is more of an informational post...

Torterra is a lot more versatile than people think (I'm responsible for all 11 mentions I think, lol). I know its defensive tank set is on there multiple times due to the fact it can be EVed to handle physical attackers or special attackers while it has good enough offensive presence to still be used on Balance and Bulky Offense teams. Its stat spread is really good.

As for Mesprit, the thing has, like, 7 sets in the analysis that's going through C&C right now (I should know; I rewrote the darn thing...) It may not be the best at any one role, but it is more than viable in many roles. It can set SR, be used on VoltTurn teams, wallbreak (Specs AND Band), revenge kill, setup TR, setup rain or sun, and sweep. There's a reason I keep saying it's so good in each month's RU stats.

RU Co-Leader

good typing, regenerator, and good all around bulk help amoonguss easily switch into multiple types of moves over the course of the match: most notably Water-, Grass- and Electric-type moves, which the fungus can take with ease

once Amoonguss switches in, it poses an immediate threat with spore: a 100% accurate Sleep inducing move, most likely forcing the opponent to go out into a sleep absorber

Once Spore is used up, Amoonguss becomes a bit less threatening, but it can still pivot in and out rather reliably, spread Paralysis with Stun Spore, and do damage to opponents with Giga Drain and Sludge Bomb

If needed, Amoonguss can go the offensive pivot route! It still has enough bulk to switch into most attacks, but packs significantly more of a punch in exchange for some Life Orb recoil

Absorbs Toxic Spikes if/when needed, which is always good for an offensive team which is vulnerable to them

Pairs well with other pivots/walls to form defensive cores, especially slowking and alomomola

RU Co-Leader

Choice Specs Typhlosion possesses a great combination of power and speed that makes it a big threat both early and late game

Early game, Typhlosion has the ability to use a massively powerful STAB move in full hp Eruption to heavily dent the opponent, Full HP Eruption reaches 150 Base Power just about, meaning Choice Specs Typhlosion's Eruption rivals the power of Choice Band Aggron's Head Smash (offensive stats are just about the same, timid nature makes typh slightly weaker though). Of course, Typh can't do this if its not at full hp, mostly leaving its Eruption abuse to very early on in the game where no hazards are set up to weaken it, and bulky Water-types may or may not be alive.

However, even without a full BP Eruption to work, Typhlosion can still heavily dent the opposition with a powerful Choice Specs Fire Blast, which still has enough power to 2HKO most opponents at worst.

Fire Blast becomes even deadlier later on in the match if/when Typhlosion hits Blaze Range, which significantly boosts the power of Typhlosion's Fire Blast and makes it rival Victini's V-Create in base power (both blaze fire blast and regular v-create have 180 BP before STAB.

Blaze Choice Specs Typhlosion can even 2HKO things like Druddigon with Fire Blast rather reliably!

Outside of this massive power, Typlosion sits at an alright Speed tier of base 100, outpacing the majority of the unboosted tier bar a few outliers such as Sceptile, Cinccino, and Accelgor. Ensuring that Typhlosion will be outpacing its opponents most of the time, especially with the rise of bulky offense

Stealth Rock weakness limits its switchins somewhat, but makes it easier to get into blaze range too, so its all good.

Can counter very dangerous threats for this types of teams such Magmortar which Standard Magmortar is always doing 3hko to Ludicolo with Fire Blast or tanking Omastar Shell Smash which after of a Shell Smash with Life Orb and Modest nature takes only around 53-63%~

This set also works especially well against Rain teams thanks to Rain Dish, checking some of the most dangerous special threats on Rain teams.

Scald is the most useful move to burn all, with Synthesis and Leech Seed is recovering all day long with Giga Drain for coverage and recovering is just very hard to down or Protect to recover a bit with Leftovers or after to Leech Seed and just scouting opposite moves for example against CB Escavalier.

RU Co-Leader

Aerodactyl's combination of phenomenal Speed, good attack, alright coverage, and reliable recovery make it a potent Life Orb attacker

As mentioned, Aerodactyl's best trait is by far its amazing base 130 Speed stat, second fastest Pokemon in RU behind Accelgor and it even outspeeds some Choice Scarf users such as Emboar to boot!

STAB Stone Edge, while inaccurate, is still strong enough to get the job done, O/2HKOing pretty much anything that doesn't resist it

quick, reliable recovery helps Aero extend its longevity a bit, especially useful for healing off residual Stealth Rock damage that can pile up from time to time.

Can use a fast taunt to stop set up if needed, even without a Focus Sash to help Aero take a hit a taunt that fast is pretty useful

Resistance to Fire- and Flying-type moves along with high Speed and access to roost make Aerodactyl a decent offensive Moltres check, can come in, waste PP with pressure, threaten to KO, and roost off the damage later.

sorta unorthodox, but LO Aero can use Fire Blast to lure in and eliminate some common checks such as Steelix, Ferroseed, and Tangrowth, 2HKOing all of them at worst making it even more dangerous.

Ability to use Thunder like attack with an high accuracy thanks to Compoundeyes.

Thunder and Bug Buzz both by STAB are mandatory.

Galvantula with this offensive type and Volt Switch makes a lot of switch so Substitute is a great idea.

Giga Drain on the last slot since needs hits ground types such Rhydon that can beat Galvantula with Rock Blast, also Giga Drain recover health that otherwise should be annoying: Stealth Rock + Life Orb + Substitute.

RU Co-Leader

It might look odd at first but Choice Specs Lanturn is actually a cool bulky offensive pivot

even though it doesn't run as much investment as the other lanturn sets, it still has the bulk and resists to find plenty of opportunities to switch in on Pokemon such as Moltres, Magneton, and Manectric and grab immediate momentum with a slow volt switch

unlike other lanturn sets, specs lanturn actually packs a punch thanks to the power of STAB Hydro Pump, Thunderbolt and Volt Switch become decently powerful as well

annoying to block Volt Switch since a lot of ground immunities are naturally weak to Lanturn's Water-type STAB, making switching in to block vswitch a risk.

Volt Absorb gives Lanturn passive healing by switching into Electric-type moves, also makes lanturn one of the best electric checks in the whole tier, beating almost all of them bar rotom-c

can be worn down by hazards to an extent, especially when there arent any electric-type moves to heal up with ;_;

RU Co-Leader

Alright, i've gotten around to updating the OP with most of your entries, good job everyone! There are three entries pending that i wasnt sure if they should be added or not, (Archeops, previously added and removed by Crow, Dusknoir, which from my experience might not even deserve a mention in niche roles, and rp golurk, which has always underperformed for me, i'll talk to dc about these and get back to them later).

Anyways, because why not adding an entry of my own to keep this going, also, even if you don't have a set to post, feel free to comment on the others posted! i've seen only a relatively small amount of that since the start of this thread.

Bulky Offense/Balance

Tanks and Utility

(Tank)

Despite competition from Druddigon and other Dark-types, Zweilous makes a nice tank and is always an option if you need it

incredibly bulky with Eviolite, 72/70/70 with a 1.5x boost to both defenses allows it to take pretty much any hit thats not a Close Combat or Outrage

Multiple resistances and immunities to moves such as Giga Drain, Scald, Psyshock, Shadow Ball, Crunch, Fire Blast, and Thunderbolt further augment this bulk, and give Zweilous multiple opportunities to switch in, check threats, and do some serious damage

Hustle boosts Zweilous's Attack stat to pretty high levels in exchange for some accuracy, will be doing loads of damage as long as it hits

Checks the most common Pokemon in the tier, Slowking pretty effectively, resisting pretty much everything it could possibly do and threatening to KO back with Crunch

also easily beats Pokemon such as Uxie, Mesprit to an extent, Lilligant, Sigilyph, Rotom-C, Rotom-N, and Entei to an extent, using the previously mentioned bulk and resistances to do so

Slow but not as slow as its main competition Druddigon, meaning it needs less investment to speed creep the same threats

Moderator

75 / 90 / 105 defenses aren't even half bad, and alongside a bunch of really pertinent resistances make it a pretty solid answer to a nice sum of common threats to stall, including Lilligant, specially-based Fire-types (Magmortar, Specs Typhlosion, etc. It also has enough natural bulk to provide a decent primary switch to stuff like Slowking and Sceptile (stall usually has answers for both special and SD variants, but usually they have to just let their SpDef Normal or something to switch in initially to verify the set :[ ) and / or take a hit from Sawsbuck in a pinch.

Though an SR weakness is annoying, it is immune to (T)Spikes and packs Natural Cure, making it fairly self-sufficient 'mon overall, which is cool since you don't have to prioritize spinning hazards / getting a cleric in to mend it up. Respectable physical bulk and reliable recovery in Roost also means that it is much less Pursuit-weak than a bunch of SpDef walls in the tier.

Its movepool packs a really nice chunk of useful support options, including Heal Bell, Roar, and PERISH SONG (pretty sure it and Misdreavus are the only viable Perish Song users for Stall available, which is huge for last-'mon Sigi's or BU Braviary's and so forth), meaning it isn't solely a utility counter to a bunch of 'mons.

With hail not being a thing any more, Altaria's big Ice weakness is significantly less problematic =)

Lack of offensive presence is somewhat annoying, since relying on Dragon Pulse for chip damage means that 'mons like Durant can jump in and threaten to either set up or just push nice damage w/Iron Head, but to its credit this does allow Altaria to pick off moderate threats such as CB / Mixed Druddigon after enough prior damage.